


Iron Man: Hero or Threat

by Hacereadsenochian (Grannahreadsenochian)



Category: Avengers, Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel, Mutants - Fandom, Tonironi, Tony Stark - Fandom
Genre: Journalist, Ooh de lally, Registration Act, alluded, article
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 12:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4705715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grannahreadsenochian/pseuds/Hacereadsenochian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short article written by an anonymous but outspoken journalist. Should Iron Man be considered a hero? Can he be trusted? Or is it time to take back the power of the people and put down laws for these Heroes and Mutants and Secret Organizations. After the crisis with the experimental drug Extremis it's time to take a closer look at these independent organizations, and ask ourselves if they're really helping our country, or are they bringing down everything we once stood for and believed in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Iron Man: Hero or Threat

**Author's Note:**

> Title is a work in progress

     Tony Stark. Iron Man. A hero? 

You mean the man who donates thousands to charities, publicly and anonymously? Or the Man who orchestrated world peace, for the most part? The man who fought his way out of a cave in Afghanistan, in a suit made from scrap metal, who sacrificed himself for us in New York, who has had far too many close calls with death?

    The man with a tortured past, who grew up the son of the Genius Howard Stark, only to lose both his mother and father tragically when he was twenty one. 

    Or the man who spent most of his life as head of a prestigious company getting drunk at galas and sleeping with a dozen girls at a time, the man who never really cared about the company, not until he got voted out. Even then, it was just the fact that he couldn't have something that drove him to retake it, and he handed it off to his PA Pepper Potts a week later. 

    And he doesn't like being handed things. That's always what you want to hear when you're trying to get a statement from him. Forget buying him a drink, he'll reach across the counter and make it himself. Land knows he's perfectly capable of doing so, he probably drinks his weight in alcohol every morning. 

    Choose your poison, right? Hey, even the suit filters his piss. He could drink that if he wanted. Maybe he does. 

    What makes Tony Stark so special? I'm gonna say his intellect, his money, his company, his heritage. But beyond that, not a thing. He's just another shallow, self obsessed, so called "Philanthropist" who only donates to charity because he's got money to waste and he wouldn't want people, the general public, to have a low opinion of him. 

    Yes, he had a less than normal childhood. Yes, he lost both his parents, but he was a grown adult and perfectly capable of handling it maturely, instead of going off the deep end. 

    Yes, he has saved hundreds of lives. But for what? That's what I keep having to ask myself. He doesn't do it because he cares about them. There's no personal vendetta, he took care of that when he  _killed Ivan Vanko_ , the man who supposedly was the son of Howard Stark's killer. But how can we be expected to believe that? If Stark is at all like his father, for all we know Howard was drunk at the wheel and Mrs. Stark was just collateral damage. So Howard was a deadbeat and a killer. What a legacy. 

    The plain truth is, Tony Stark is a mad man, and he's given himself this idea that just because he has a shiny suit of armor, he can go around using it for what he wants, be that stopping terrorists, on a good day, or leading a fleet of drones through the streets surrounding his own expo. 

     I've witnessed his madness myself. Many times I've stood in front of him with my recorder in hand, asking him questions that my Editor sent me after him with. And every time, I felt more and more convinced that this man cannot be trusted, that he's a time bomb, waiting to explode in our faces. He's answered my questions either with jokes or with cynical statements, alluding to government superiority and supporting military funds for everything. Sure, he's no longer selling weapons to the military, and after the whole thing with "Iron Patriot" their relationship must be strained. But Tony Stark is addicted to power, to strength. He'll never stop improving weapons systems or widening his reach throughout secured, private  networks. Today he's an American Hero, tomorrow, next year, he could be throwing his weapons back at us because he doesn't agree with what the press has to say, or some disagreement with the Senate. We all saw what he did that one time he showed up in court. He started broadcasting other companies, other country's, private video recordings on the screens, right in front of all our faces. Not only did he humiliate Justin Hammer, a well respected technician himself, but he showed up the Senate, violated the privacy of half a dozen organizations, and through it all he only made himself look better. I get it, he's funny. He knows how to play up to a crowd. But what happened in that courtroom cannot be ignored. He hacked into secure files, from his cellphone. He can see anything, do anything, and that ability is always right at his fingertips. Who's to say he won't abuse that power? I say he already has.

     With great power comes great responsibility, and Responsible is not the first word that comes to mind when you mention Tony Stark to me.

     The man built a tower with his name on it. Where's the maturity there?

 

     Do his actions during the New York Alien crisis justify Tony Stark's ridiculous behavior and arrogant personality? 

     You know what, I don't know. I have no idea what Tony Stark is like in person. For all I know, the man I've talked to on multiple occasions has just been a front, a public impression of the man who's really behind the mask. 

     Maybe he really is selfless. Maybe he really is capable of sacrificing himself for us. But maybe he always had a way out. Maybe he's had a back up plan all along, maybe New York was his back up plan. Where was Ms. Potts? She was on a plane headed away from all the action. 

     I can't say that I supported the Military's decision to take the Iron Patriot armor by force. I can't say that, were I in the position, I would have brought the matter to court in the first place. Then again, I wouldn't have let SHIELD get their hands on the tech. We're not even supposed to know about them. 

     After New York, after the Mandarin's attacks, after the ludicrous situation with The Extremis drug, a treatment designed to  _help people,_ I believe that it's time to take a stand for ourselves, to have safety nets for our safety nets. These so called geniuses cannot be allowed to run unleashed anymore. We must hold them responsible for their crimes, we have to limit them, as we ourselves are limited, by law.  


     I don't care how special you are, you are an American Citizen, and we are created equal, one and the same. It doesn't matter if you're a mutant or disabled, if you fought in the war or if you were the one who put the guns in their hands, we must all be under the same law. We must all answer to our authorities, no exceptions. 

     You're not special just because you have the bigger stick. That's just what you claim when you're the one holding it. 

     A thorn can do as much damage as a club, if it crawls under the skin and festers, if it's poison leaks into ones blood. 

     These mutants and these "Avengers", SHEILD, they've been a thorn in our side, growing steadily worse as they crawl under our laws and jump between the rules. As they evade punishment and get special treatment Their poison has been spreading in our country, corrupting officials with bribes and promises, or scaring them away with special powers.

It's time to take this country back to it's roots. We are one nation, one people. All are equal, all are special. And the laws that have been placed over us are placed for our safety, all of ours safety. To protect us, if need be, from ourselves. 

     Tony Stark is just another example of someone we need protection from. I don't blame him, it's not his fault that he is who he is. The man grew up in a broken family, the son of an alcoholic. If anything, he needs protection too, from himself. He is his biggest threat, he needs to realize this, before we can place our trust in him. Before we can let him be the one to protect us.

     We need Iron Man, I won't deny that. What we don't need is Tony Stark. He'll bring down this country if we aren't careful.

     And the problem is, as the Man himself said it, Tony Stark is Iron Man. The suit and he are one.

     In a world of Superheroes And Villians, and Terrorists like the Mandarin, or like Killian Aldrich, Tony Stark has opened my eyes to a new need for security, a need that never presented itself until the heralding of Iron Man. Whether intentionally or not, Tony Stark, and even perhaps Howard Stark, have opened the doors for a new, higher form of war. And we have been given no control in this situation, as of yet. But that can change. 

     I'm asking you now, every citizen of the U.S.- How badly do you need Iron Man, and how badly do you want him? And are you willing to put up a fight, to keep us and our children safe? 

     Mutants, Avengers, SHEILD, even independent scientists working in privacy to make our lives easier- how much can we trust them, and when should we say  _no_ , _you move_. 

**Author's Note:**

> I must confess that while Iron Man is hands down my favorite Avenger, and will forever be, I had so much fun writing this fic. It is definitely the most fun, most easy fic I have ever written. No staring blankly at the screen, no crying, (Not that I ever cry when I'm writing fics, haha no) just punching out argument after argument. DOWN WITH TONY STARK
> 
> I know it's not perfect, but it is definitely darn near to what I would call the best fic I have ever written. And I know it's been a long time since I've posted, I don't know if any of you care enough about me to be upset, but if there is one of you out there who has been screaming my name and shaking a fist at the sky, I'm sorry. This was a much needed hiatus, and I will (Ironically) be posting more regularly as we all get back into the school year. I'm not gonna get full of myself and list off the reasons I couldn't write, but I'm sorry, and I am back. 
> 
> I could keep talking but I doubt many of you are even reading this. I wouldn't. I will say however, in case you caught onto that last quote at the very, very end, this was in part inspired by this quote: When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — "No, you move." 
> 
> I don't know, it just fit. Also there are vague allusions to the Registration act and thence the Civil War, which I was prompted to make less vague and more obvious by my Friend (Grannahreadsenochian) and my Brother. 
> 
> Alright. I'll stop rambling now. I'm sorry.


End file.
